"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"--not just for the Hollies' performance but for the song itself, one of the most inspiring, meaningful and important songs of the '60s.
I love seeing someone younger just discover this music, the 60's and 70' were just SO GREAT to be alive. The early rock and roll was ground breaking, but then the 60's and 70's it just took off....
Love this group. The Hollies are a British pop rock group formed in 1962 & known for their great harmonies. They had so many hit songs such as "Bus Stop", "Stop Stop Stop", "The Air That I Breathe", "He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother", "On A Carousel", "Carrie Anne", "Here I Go Again", "Look Through Any Window", "King Midas In Reverse", "Jennifer Eccles" etc. "Graham Nash" was originally in this group & left in 1968 to form "Crosby, Stills & Nash".
Did you ever hear, "He ain' heavy, he's my brother " by the Hpllies? You've got to hear that. It was played at my brother's memorial service, I totally lost it.
Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills, & Nash started off as a member of The Hollies. But he's not on this 1972 classic. He left the band in 1968. You can hear him on The Hollies classic 1966 hit "Bus Stop". "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress" got a lot of radio play in the early seventies, because it grooves, but also likely because it filled the gap that opened after Creedence Clearwater Revival broke up. Another tune, a bit older, with a similar thematic vibe is Johnny Rivers "Secret Agent Man".
Note J:ohn Fogerty of the band Creedence Clearwater Revival tried to sue the British band the Hollies for their 1972 song "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress" because he thought it infringed on their trademark sound used in the CCR song "Green River". .
Guitarist Tony Hicks is the father of Paul Hicks, who is in a band with Dhani Harrison, George Harrison's son, thenewno2. Paul works with the son of Beatles' producer George Martin, in all the new remixes coming out of the Beatles' catalogue albums.
This song makes me think of Viet Nam . I have a picture in my mind of GIs in a jungle base camp trying to chillax while listening to Armed Forces radio !